[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SENATOR WILLIAM COHEN

  Mr. EXON. Mr. President, the senior Senator from Maine, Bill Cohen, 
is among those Senators who have decided to not seek another term in 
service to their country. Senator Cohen and I both arrived in the 
Senate in January 1979 and we have served together on the Armed 
Services Committee ever since.
  Bill Cohen's skills as a United States Senator were evident from the 
beginning. His mastery of detail along with his understanding of the 
larger implications of legislative policies has made him a universally 
respected oracle on a wide range of issues. His views are no more 
revered, perhaps, than those in the area of national defense and 
foreign policy. I can attest firsthand to how important Senator Cohen 
has been in furthering our national security interests over the past 
two decades. There is no aspect of our collective national security 
policy over this time that has not benefitted from Senator Cohen's 
contribution. Whether in the area of arms control or military 
reorganization or shipbuilding, Senator Cohen has displayed an 
effective ability to analyze problems and propose workable solutions 
that garnered bipartisan support. This is Bill Cohen's legacy to the 
United States Senate and the country as a whole.
  He has been a renaissance man of sorts during these past 18 years: A 
best-selling novelist and published poet, an articulate speaker, and a 
gifted legislator. His departure will certainly deprive the Senate of 
one of its most meaningful and respected voices. I have no doubt he 
will continue to be as successful in his future endeavors as he has 
been as a United States Senator.

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